Nexus I

[Avis]

"Jesus was a servant of the Exarchs. If I was telling you to come to him, this would be a very different conversation," Avis replied, slipping her jacket off of her shoulders and letting it slide down her arms, revealing the intricate pattern of white scar tissue that wove itself over her skin, a lattice of old pain, though one that had clearly been designed.

"I won't give you the 'you have potential' speech, like a would a baby talon, but I will say this: until you search for the Truth, you will never understand my goals. My goal is to pass through the crucible of this life and emerge not as one sitting upon a throne, but rather as one with the Universe itself.

"And if you make a 'the Force is my ally' joke, I really will throw you off the roof."

There was definitely the hint of a smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

"Now, do you wanna become my padawan for the night, or shall we find more enlightening people to talk to?

Guru

[Guru]

“Now that I did not know. Religion is the opiate of the masses, keeping them asleep. Shit, makes sense. I just assumed he wasn’t real. Damn.”

He looked at her scars and nodded, he knew they had to be there for a reason they were memories or badges of honor. They were scars gained for a purpose, they didn’t look like a tattoo but either way they were there for a reason and he knew that. This one he knew well given how malleable his own flesh was.

“Memory, reminder, or something else?”

His voice was low, still friendly, but the playful joviality it usually held had been subdued. His head bobbed along with her words.

“Not so different there you and I. There’s a reason I never climbed the ranks in my previous life, I don’t want to rule, I don’t want to subjugate. I want to teach, I want to expand Truth. I want others to know the Truth I know, but you can’t know it without seeking it.”

There was an awe, a wonder expressed in his voice that was probably diminished by his expanding pupils as he imagined what the Truth might be like. The corners of his lips curled into a smirk as she made her joke, at least he thought it was but he wasn’t about to test that.

“I can do either, you’re here for pleasure though and I don’t wish to take that away from you.” Some of the levity returning to his voice. He left his major concern unspoken though, most of the mages he’d met acted like soldiers waiting to hear they were deployed. There was a tension there so palpable you could swim through it, if things were normal he’d say it’d lead to a heart attack.

"Like a dance partner I'll follow your lead on this one."

[Avis]

"Something else," Avis replied, brushing off the inquiry about the scars. "Now here's what I want you to do, Padawan. Think about what you're seeing and hearing while we talk to the predators in the room. We'll debrief after."

Guru

Continued in (Nexus I) Angel, Asa, Twist, Mhairi...

[Guru]

“Shit I can do that, I’m not really going to be able to help that in my current state.”

He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he was always open for new experiences. This whole night was about new experiences, it had been half the reason he came here in the first place. You had to remember the power of Yes. Say Yes to new experiences, to meeting new people, to new knowledge. Say YES to Life.

Continued in (Nexus I) Angel, Asa, Twist, Mhairi...

[Yamiyo Lillich]

Passing by the bar, getting a bottle of water to drink before heading of to the pool area to lay down on those nice white couches or whatever they were she just needed a couple of minutes to rest until the world stopped spinning and to gather her mental self back.

[West]

One week left -- time to start winding down!

[Lenora]

Leaving the large gathering, Lenora proceeds onward to the bar, sliding her empty glass lightly upon it.

At the offer of another the Kindred merely raises her and shakes her head, ready as she was to conclude the night.

Heading on, Lenora would offer Twist a dip of her head as she passed nearby, eyes roving to her mysterious friend ( Asa ) for only a moment before her movement had pushed her past them.

For tonight, Lenora's curiosity had been abundantly sated, but this man did peak her interest. Another mystery for another night. This one had gone for far too long.

Lenora leaves the scene.

[Avis]

To everyone who wasn't one of the Awakened, it appeared that the scowling brunette in the leather jacket walked up to another man, cursed at him and demanded he leave with her. When he refused, she simply told another man to stay out of it and stared at the target of her ire.

A moment later he began to scream in agony and sprinted for the elevators. He'd just made it when his chest exploded out in a spray of blood and flesh, pieces of gore soaked and tattered fabric hanging off of his frame as he fell to the ground, unconscious. The Lie always reasserted itself, after all, and after she'd forced his shirt to occupy the same space as his skin, well, the Lie had demanded that be corrected, hence the explosion of bloody mist and small gobbets of flesh as the universe force the two objects apart and made everything 'as it should be'.

Avis simply stalked after the man, entirely unsurprised and unconcerned about what had happened. She pause over his body, undoing her belt. Not to do anything crass, however. Instead, she simply looped it around his ankles and pulled it taught so that she could use it as a binding to drag his unconscious, bleeding body across the rooftop, past all of the other patrons, and to the landing pad, a trail of slick red staining the ground behind her.

" Campanella , will you grab him, please," Avis called out, pointing to the shivering form of Guru .

She shot a wink to Asa and his assembled companions, and then waited for Star to join her so they could portal home.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-05-11 00:26:31	Avis rolls 1 to paradox as backlash (10 Again)	6	failure

6 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-05-11 00:27:41	Avis rolls 7 to portal (gnos+space - 2intimate) (10 Again)	10, 1, 5, 8, 10, 10, 4, 9, 5, 9	6 successes

Avis will exit the Scene with Star and Pixel

[Campanella]

Campanella can only exclaim in shock before events spin and whirl.

After that, it is all the Moros can do to cross the rooftop space and retrieve Guru from his predicament.

Speaking quietly, he ushers / leads / pushes / drags the stricken mage out of danger.

All this underscores a very important lession:

The Nexus has bite.

Unless stopped Campanella will exit the scene with Guru

[Star]

My, my. All that screaming and running and falling over for no reason. Today's youth: not as innocent as they look.

I am Jack's train-wreck spectating.

Because clueless bystander like everyone else, obviously. Saw some sights. Dispensed divine justice. Had a heckin' good glass of Camper's wine. And you know what sooooomebody thinks of this shaved head. It's a good night. Sure, Campanella and Guru might disagree. Might be some Good Will Hunting tough love therapy in their future. How about them apples?

"Well," he mused upon joining Avis and looking down at the bleeding body, "What do you think? One thirty? One fifty?"

Star is gone with Avis~